Method and device for filling and closing a package

ABSTRACT

A method for filling and closing a package which is initially open on its upper side and has sealable plastic material about the periphery (2) of that side. The package is first conveyed to a location (6), where it is filled. Thereafter, a covering foil sheet (12) is sealed to periphery (2) to cover the open side. The package is brought to a standstill at the filling location (6), and filled through an opening (11) in a strip of the covering foil (7). The strip of covering foil (7) is then moved in a direction (10) lateral to the direction of conveyance (5) of the package, until the open side of package (1) is covered by the foil strip (7). A foil cover piece is then punched from the foil strip (7), leaving a new opening (11), and is sealed to the periphery (2) of the open side of the package (1). The sealed package (1) is then moved from filling location (6) by the conveyor belt (4). The strip of covering foil (7), with the new opening (11), remains stationary until the filling and sealing operation upon the next package (1).

The invention relates to a method for filling and closing a package openon one side, which is provided, at least on its edge which is to beclosed, with sealable plastics material, in which the package isconveyed intermittently in a first direction of conveyance, is filled ata filling point, and thereafter a covering foil is placed on the edgeand sealed thereto.

For filling and closing margarine or yoghurt packages it is known tofill packages having one edge made of plastics material and to conveythem to a closure point where a covering foil of plastics material ormetal or a multilayered covering foil is sealed thereto.

It has been shown in the case of high capacity machines that thepackages just filled and not yet closed have to be greatly acceleratedto achieve a large number of pieces per unit of time with thedisadvantage that as a result contents slop out or splash out.

The object of the invention is to provide and to effectively improve amethod of the type presently described, which significantly reduces andpreferably indeed prevents the risk of splashing of contents duringfilling and closure of the packages despite high output.

This object is solved according to the invention in that the package isbrought to a complete standstill in the filling point, wherein in thefilling point a hole in a web of covering foil is arranged at a heightabove the package, in that during this complete standstill of thepackage and the web of covering foil the package is filled through thishole, the web of covering foil is moved forwards in a second directionat an angle with respect to the first direction of conveyance over theconveyor belt until the entire opening, including the edge of thepackage, is covered by the covering foil material, and after punchingout of a covering foil this is sealed onto the edge of the package stillduring the complete standstill, after which the package is moved furtheralong the conveyor belt, while the web of covering foil remains at astandstill. The essential feature of the invention is that the packageis brought to a complete standstill, during which the package is filledand subsequently closed. Only after closure of the package is itaccelerated and moved further along in the said first direction ofconveyance. Acceleration of the unclosed but already filled package isadvantageously impossible according to the invention. In this way therisk of splashing is eliminated in a surprising manner. A deviceoperating according to such a method can thus be set up for acorrespondingly high capacity.

The further essential concept of a solution according to the inventionis in the web of covering foil moved at an angle with respect to thefirst direction of conveyance, which is moved independently of thepackage and relatively with respect thereto. A hole is arranged in theweb of covering foil and this hole is placed over the open side of thepackage to be filled, whereafter the said complete standstill begins. Oncommencement thereof the package can be and is filled from above throughthe hole. While the filled package remains stationary, the web ofcovering foil is moved along until there is no hole or recess presentover the opening of the package to be closed, but instead covering foilmaterial covers over the entire package, including the edge of thepackage. Then, still during the complete standstill of the package, astamping device is set in motion which punches out the covering foil,which in the course of said motion is sealed to the edge of the packageshortly afterwards. Only now is the complete standstill time ended andthe package can be moved further in the said first direction ofconveyance after initial acceleration with the aid of the conveyor belt.The contents can no longer slop over the edge of the package.

In addition it is particularly advantageous when according to theinvention the hole in the web of covering foil is formed by the punchingout of a covering foil. It has presently been described with respect tothe forward movement of the web of covering foil after filling of thepackage, that no opening remains over the upwardly open package, butrather covering foil material covers over the entire upper side of thepackage. After this the punching out of the covering foil is carriedout. By means of this punching out procedure a hole is made in the webof covering foil, the external dimensions of which correspond to thoseof the covering foil. As a result the punching out of the covering foilcan be assumed at the same time to be the formation of the hole. Thenadvantageously after punching out and sealing on of the covering foilthe web of covering foil does not have to be moved further along untilthe filling procedure of the next following package is completed. Inthis way not only time but also material in the web of covering foil issaved.

It is furthermore advantageous when according to the invention a lid isadditionally placed on the filled package already closed with thecovering foil, by means of which the edge of the package issignificantly and advantageously stiffened. Although it is already knownto close packages of a similar type with a lid, the timing speed wasuntil now greatly reduced because of the risk of splashing afterfilling. The thickness of the material of the web of covering foil is sosmall, for example the thickness is in a range of between 0.1 mm to 0.5,that practically one can hardly speak of a notable use of material. Theamount of time necessary for placing this covering foil is also so smallthat it can practically be ignored in the course of the all of the stepsof the method. Consequently, the result remains the filling of a packageand closure with the stiffened lid as previously according to the stateof the art, however with the great difference that the risk of splashingis significantly reduced if not prevented by means of the described andsurprising measures without extra expenditure. Although the stiffenedlid is only fitted mechanically, there is a fluid sealing capabilitywhich can be modified by using an appropriate covering foil to even givea gas sealing capability.

The invention also relates to a device for filling and closing a packageof the type described by means of the application of a covering foilwhich is to be sealed to the edge and is sealable therewith, and thisdevice is provided with holders for receiving and conveying the packagein a first direction of conveyance below a filling point with a fillerpipe moveable in a third, vertical direction. In order to provide thisdevice with the advantageous properties of high capacity and of thedevice taking up as small an amount of space as possible, and to improvethe device so that the risk of splashing is almost or if possiblecompletely avoided, according to the invention it is provided that a webof covering foil material is provided which can be moved intermittentlyin the area of the filling point from a first roller to a second rollerin a second direction of movement at an angle to the first direction ofconveyance, above the conveyor belt at approximately the height of thetop edge of the holder, and that a stamping and sealing tool is arrangedin the area of the filling point. The actual effect of the device withthese features according to the invention is mainly directed to the areaof the filling point in which the conveyor belt is crossed by the web ofcovering foil such that the web of covering foil passes over theconveyor belt at the height described, that is to say at approximatelythe height of the top edge of the holder, as in the latter the packagesopen on one side are located which stand on the conveyor belt and haveto be closed from above by the covering foil. The movement of the web ofcovering foil is also intermittent as is that of the conveyor belt.Preferably, both stop simultaneously in the area of the filling point sothat the essential working procedures can be carried out there.

According to the present description, the main part of the operation isthe filling of the package by means of a vertically moveable filler pipewhich is lowered down into the open package before filling and is raisedduring filling until the filling procedure ends and the package isfilled to the necessary filling level, and thereafter the filler pipe israised yet further in the third, vertical direction. The further taskand effect of the device in the area of the filling station is thecutting out or punching out of the covering foil from the web, aprocedure which is carried out by the stamping and sealing tool, whichis advantageously also arranged in the area of the filling station inorder to avoid longer conveyancing distances.

In a further configuration of the invention it is provided that thefiller pipe is arranged within the effective area of the stamping andsealing tool and moveable relatively with respect thereto and that thedrives for the moveable parts are synchronously matched to each other.The punching out and sealing is mainly carried out in the edge area ofthe product, that is to say of the package to be filled. The openingpresent inside the edge of the package is the effective area of thetool, and this is large enough also to receive a filler pipe which canmoved up and down in the said third, vertical direction within aframe-like stamping and sealing tool. The tool also only needs to movedown and up again in this third, vertical direction for the punchingout; and it behaves in the same manner during the sealing procedure. Ifthe package to be filled is thus at a complete standstill and already inthe correct location within the filling point, the individual tools thenhave only to move in a short path down and up again in the third,vertical direction in order to carry out all the work and to completelydemonstrate the desired effect. The matching of the drives for themoveable parts is provided such that the steps of the method describedin the introduction are carried out at the correct time intervals:firstly arrangement of the web of covering foil with the hole formedtherein in the area of the filling point; filling of the package;forward movement of the web of covering foil until the opening of thepackage is covered; punching out of the sufficiently large coveringfoil; sealing of the same to the top edge of the package; withdrawal ofall tools and therewith opening of the sealing tool; and furthermovement of the filled and closed package to the next processing point.

It is advantageous according to the invention when the holder and theconveyor belt are composed of steel, and preferably the first directionof conveyance is perpendicular to the second direction of movement ofthe web of covering foil. It is advantageous to hold the packages whichare to be filled and are open on one side, which are for exampleconfigured in a cup-shaped manner and composed entirely of plasticsmaterial, in storage in a magazine. These packages are placed one by onein steel holders and in this way are held in a stable and definedmanner. When the conveyor belt is also composed of steel the precisearrangement of the packages or of their edges can be retained under theprocessing tools (for filling, punching out, sealing). Any elongationtolerances due to tensile forces within the conveyor belt between theindividual holders is thereby largely eliminated. Short and precisemovements are achieved particularly well when the first direction ofconveyance of the conveyor belt with the holders is perpendicular withrespect to the second direction of movement of the web of covering foil.

It is further advantageous according to the invention when--seen fromthe point of view of the first direction of conveyance--a lid fittingpoint is arranged at a distance beyond the filling point. In the fillingpoint the covering foil is sealed on according to the invention and thepackage thereby protected from the risk of splashing, and by means ofthe arrangement of a lid fitting point next to the filling point thereis practically no additional space requirement in comparison withconventional devices, and nevertheless lids--where appropriate alsopresent in a magazine and pre-prepared--can be pressed and fixed bymeans of a clamping or snap action onto the top edge of the filledpackage with the result that the package processed according to theinvention has a very stiff external edge.

Even when the package which is filled and processed using the measuresaccording to the invention is started up with high acceleration andtransported with conveyor belts, there is no longer any risk ofsplashing because of the covering foil. The entire machine can beconfigured very compactly and yet have a high capacity. In this way itis possible to arrange several production lines adjacently to oneanother, wherein the machine is very flexible. According to the wishesof a client a machine can be built with just a few or where appropriatewith many production lines for setting up the required capacity. Inpractical operation it has been shown that in production using threelines 4,500 packages per hour can be filled and sealed in the mannerdescribed.

Further advantages, features and possibilities for use of the presentinvention will be shown in the following description together with theattached drawings. In these is shown in:

FIG. 1 a schematic and cut-away cross-sectional view through the fillingpoint seen looking away from the first direction of conveyance of theconveyor belt, in a first operating step before filling,

FIG. 2 a similar view to that in FIG. 1, however in a second operatingstep following the almost completed filling,

FIG. 3 again a similar view, however in a third operating step afterfilling and forward movement of the web of covering foil,

FIG. 4 again a similar view to that shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, in a fourthoperating step after filling, punching out of the covering foil andsealing of the same, before the complete movement apart of the tools,and

FIG. 5 a plan view of the filling point and the conveyor belt runningfrom above to below on the one hand and the web of covering foilmoveable from left to right on the other hand.

Essential parts of the individual tool units are known in themselves andare therefore only schematically represented here. The configuration ofthe package to be filled is also not critical. The package can betub-like, cup-shaped or similarly configured and is in this case shownin FIGS. 1 to 4 with a rectangular cross-section, and in FIG. 5 as ovalin plan view.

The package open on one side is designated with 1 and has an upper edge2 to be closed, which is shown in FIG. 5. Such packages can, forexample, be deep-drawn from plastics material and lie in a magazinewhich is not shown, from which they are taken and fitted into steelholders 3. These are located at exactly defined distances apart in afixed manner on a steel conveyor belt 4 which moves from above to belowin a first direction of conveyance 5 (see arrow 5) as shown in FIG. 5.In FIGS. 1 to 4 the steel conveyor belt 4 runs opposite to the directionof view of the observer. In FIGS. 1 to 4 which essentially show across-sectional view along the line IV--IV of FIG. 5, the steel conveyorbelt 4 is shown schematically.

In FIG. 5 the filling point 6 is located where the steel conveyor belt 4and the web of covering foil 7 cross over.

The web of covering foil 7 is conducted from a first roller 8 to asecond roller 9 and can be moved intermittently in a second direction ofmovement 10 at an angle of 90° with respect to the first direction ofconveyance 5 of the steel conveyor belt 4. The web of covering foil 7without any holes or punched out sections is located on the first roll8, while after punching out of the hole 11 to the size of the coveringfoil 12 the worked web of covering foil 7 is rolled onto the secondroller 9 by rotation of the same in the direction of the curved arrow 13(FIG. 3).

While FIG. 5 shows the plan view of the device and in particular the webof covering foil 7 crossing the conveyor belt 4 at the filling point 6,the stamping and sealing tool generally designated by 14 is shown inFIGS. 1 to 4 in different positions. It relates essentially to an upperposition according to FIGS. 1 to 3 and a lower position according toFIG. 4, wherein the movement of the stamping and sealing tool 14 isvertical from above to below and from below to above. The externalmeasurements of the stamping and sealing tool 14 match those of thesteel holder 3 as the covering foil 12 corresponding to the size of thepackage 1 to be covered, including its edge 2, has to be punched out ofthe web of covering foil 7 and can then sealed on by means of thesealing tool.

In addition within the stamping and sealing tool 14 a filler pipe 15 islocated which is moveable up and down with respect thereto, which alsocan also be moved up and down in the vertical direction butindependently of the movement of the stamping and sealing tool 14 and isthus moveable relatively thereto. The possibility for movement of thefiller pipe 15, the filling apparatus of which is known and thereforenot shown here, extends from lowering of the bottom end 16 of the fillerpipe 15 as far as the lower area of the package 1 to be filled (bottom)to an upwardly withdrawn position at a maximum distance away from thecovering foil 12, as shown for example in FIG. 4.

In operation the filling and closing device in the configuration shownin the drawings and presently described works as follows.

Packages 1, open upwardly on one side with a flange-like outwardlyextending edge 2 completely surrounding the upper opening of the package1, are taken from a magazine which is not shown and fitted into holders3 made of steel which are attached to a conveyor belt 4 at a fixeddistance apart from one another and are intermittently moved in thefirst direction of conveyance 5 (FIG. 5) such that they are displacedfrom a position shown in FIG. 5 to a next position and are stoppedthere. Above the cross-over point in FIG. 5, where the web of coveringfoil 7 crosses the conveyor belt 4, two of these points are shown andviewed from above an empty package 1 with an oval cross-section and withthe surrounding edge 2 can be seen, wherein the profile of the peripheryof the holder 3 is also shown.

It assumed that the web of covering foil 7 is punched out to the size ofa covering foil 12 at the cross-over point in the area of the fillingpoint 6 and this covering foil 12 is sealed onto the edge 2 of thepackage 1. The web of covering foil 7 thus has a hole which isdesignated by 11 in the position horizontally to the right adjacent tothe cross-over point, and through which the covering foil 12 can be seenat the cross-over point. This representation corresponds to the positionin FIG. 4. The covering foil 12 is sealed onto the edge and thereafterthe conveyor belt 4 moves along by one position in the direction of thefirst direction of conveyance 5, so that in FIG. 5 the closed packagestanding beneath the cross-over point can be seen, with a view of thecovering foil 12.

During this forward movement of the filled and closed package the nextpackage 1 is moved forward exactly underneath the cross-over position inthe area of the filling point 6, as shown in a cross-sectional view inFIG. 1. The package 1 is still empty. Now the filler pipe 15 is loweredfar enough for its bottom end 16 to arrive near to the base of thepackage 1, which is a movement in a vertically downward directionaccording to arrow 17. The contents are filled into the package 1, asshown in FIG. 2. This lowering of the filler pipe 15 according to thearrow 17 and the filling is done through the hole 11 in the web ofcovering foil 7 which is shown clearly in FIGS. 1 and

After filling of the package 1 with a pre-determined amount of contents,the direction of movement of the filler pipe 15 is reversed, as is shownin FIG. 2, and it is withdrawn upwards in the direction of the upwardpointing arrow 18 through the stamping and sealing tool 14. As soon asthe bottom end 16 of the filler pipe 15 has left the interior of thepackage 1 and the hole 11 on the web of covering foil 7, the web ofcovering foil 7 is displaced in the second direction of movement 10 byone position to the right, so that the state shown in FIG. 3 is reached.The stamping and sealing tool 14 is now moved downwards in the verticaldirection according to the arrow 19, so that the covering foil 12 ispunched out of the web of covering foil 7, the result of which is shownin FIG. 4. With this, or immediately afterwards, the sealing of thiscovering foil 12 onto the edge 2 of the package 1 is carried out. Inthis way the web of covering foil 7 automatically has a hole 11 throughwhich the filling in the subsequent step can be carried out. Afterpunching out and sealing on of the covering foil 12 the stamping andsealing tool 14 is now withdrawn upwards in the direction of the arrow20. The conveyor belt 4 with the holder 3 with the fitted, filled andclosed package 1 can then be moved from the cross-over point in thefirst direction of conveyance 5 to one position further beneath (FIG. 5)as described in the introduction, so that the procedure is now repeatedwith respect to positioning.

We claim:
 1. Method for filling and closing a package (1) open on oneside having an edge therearound which everywhere carries sealableplastics material thereon, the method comprising the steps:providing ameans for conveying the package (1) intermittently in a first direction(5); providing a filling point (6) for the package; conveying thepackage to the filling point and bringing said package to a standstill;providing a strip of covering foil material (7) at the filling pointabove the package (1) said strip having a hole (11) therethrough abovethe open side of the package and upstream of said hole having coveringmaterial of sufficient size to completely cover said open side and edgeof said package; filling the package through said hole; providing meansfor moving the Strip (7) in a direction which has a substantialcomponent lateral to the direction of conveyance of the package (1);moving said strip of covering foil until the open side of the package(1) and the edge (2) therearound are completely covered by said strip ofcovering foil, and bringing said strip to a standstill; providing meansfor punching out a covering piece (12) of foil from the strip thereofand punching out said piece (12); providing means for sealing saidcovering piece onto the edge (2) and sealing said piece onto the edge(2); and moving the sealed package (1) along the first direction. 2.Method according to claim 1, wherein:the hole (11) in the web ofcovering foil (7) is formed by punching out of a covering foil piece(12) during the sealing operation of the previous package.
 3. Methodaccording to claim 1, wherein:a lid which stiffens the edge (2) of thepackage (1) is additionally applied to the package which is filled andclosed with the covering foil piece (12).
 4. Device for filling andclosing a package (1) with a covering foil (12), said package being openon one side, said open side having an edge (2) therearound whicheverywhere carries sealable plastic material, said device comprising:aconveyor belt (4) having holders (3) for receiving and conveying thepackage (1) in a first direction (5) to a filling point (6); a pair ofspaced apart parallel rollers (8, 9), roller (8) being adapted to carryan elongate spirally wound strip of covering foil material (7) androller (9) to accept and wind said strip, said rollers being mounted sothat said strip can be moved from roller (8) to roller (9)intermittently directly across and above the filling point (6) in adirection which has a substantial component lateral to said firstdirection (5), and at the approximate elevation of a topmost edge of theholder (3); a stamping and sealing tool having a central verticalopening therethrough mounted vertically movable directly above theholder (3) at the filling point (6) above the strip of covering foilmaterial (7), for cutting a package covering piece from the strip offoil material and sealing said covering piece to the edge (2) of thepackage (1) and leaving a hole in said strip of foil; and a filler pipe(15) mounted to be movable in a vertical direction (17, 19) at saidfilling point through the vertical opening through the tool and the holein the covering material left from the previous covering operation. 5.Device according to claim 4, wherein:the filler pipe (15) is mounted tobe vertically movable along a path within a space bounded horizontallyby the open side of the package (1), and is movable with respect to thestamping and sealing tool (14); and wherein the device further includesdrive means for the conveyor (4), the roller (9), the filler pipe (15),and the stamping and sealing tool (14); and said drive means are matchedsynchronously with each other, so that the package is carried to thefilling point, the filler pipe lowered through the hole in the coveringfoil from the previous operation, the package filled and the filler piperetracted upwardly, the foil strip advanced to cover the package, thestamping and sealing tool lowered to punch out a foil cover and to sealsaid cover upon the package and retract vertically and the sealedpackage carried by the coveyor belt from the filling point, in automaticsequence.
 6. Device according to claim 4, wherein the holders and beltare composed of steel; andthe first direction of conveyance (5) isperpendicular to the second direction of movement (10).
 7. Deviceaccording to claim 6, wherein:in the first direction of conveyance (5) alid fitting point is provided at a distance beyond the filling point(6).
 8. Device according to claim 5, wherein:the holder (3) and theconveyor belt (4) are composed of steel and the first direction ofconveyance (5) is perpendicular to the second direction of movement(10).
 9. Device according to claim 8, wherein:in the first direction ofconveyance (5) a lid fitting point is provided at a distance beyond thefilling point (6).
 10. Device according to claim 5, wherein:in the firstdirection of conveyance (5) a lid fitting point is provided at adistance beyond the filling point (6).
 11. Device according to claim 4,wherein:in the first direction of conveyance (5) a lid fitting point isprovided at a distance beyond the filling point (6).
 12. Methodaccording to claim 2, wherein:a lid which stiffens the edge (2) of thepackage (1) is additionally applied to the package which is filled andclosed with covering foil piece (12).
 13. The device of claim 4 whereinthe stamping and sealing tool comprises:a punching member the shape andsize of the open side and the edge (2) of the package (1), having avertical opening therethrough above the open side of said package; avertically movable guide block having a cavity within which the punchingmember reciprocates vertically and a lowermost planar surface matching atopmost surface of the package holder, so that the foil strip (7) may beclamped between the holder (3) and the guide block and a covering pieceof foil sheared from the strip by the punching member, said coveringpiece being sealed around edge (2) by continued downward motion of thepunching member, said punching member and guide block being retractablevertically from the package after the covering operation.